Michael Parker

About Michael Parker

I began life in 1941 in London, a normal, working class lad. My mother wanted me to be a journalist. My aspirations were no more than was usual for a working class boy, but I had an enormous interest in reading, and read most of the children’s classics. As I moved through my adolescent years, my reading tastes gradually changed. As a teenager, the author who had the greatest impact on me was Mickey Spillane. Venturing into adulthood, I was reading about four of five books a week (no television in those days) and discovered writers like Hammond Innes, Denis Wheatley, Nigel Tranter and a host of others. It was these amazing authors that unwittingly encouraged me to write, but having no idea about the process, although I could write, I never believed I could do it. I did write a novel, which my sister typed out for me, carbons and all, but that never saw the light of day.
Eventually I wrote my first, published novel, North Slope. It was picked up by Macmillan and I believed then I had made it as a writer. I was described as a “Gifted Narrator” in the Financial Times, which sold me on the idea that I was destined for the career I had dreamed of for so many years. It never happened, and it was four years later that Robert Hale published my second novel, Shadow of the Wolf.
Over the years I continued writing but not publishing. Eventually I retired (I was fifty five) and my wife, Pat and I moved out to Spain. A few years later Robert Hale published my third novel, Hell’s Gate. The flood gates opened then and I ended up with nine, traditionally published novels. They were all stand-alone, cross genre thrillers. Except one — a romance titled Past Imperfect. It was a complete departure for me, but my publisher liked it and agreed to publish. My tenth novel, A Dangerous Game, was independently published by me on Amazon. You can see all my books on my website, www.michaelparkerbooks.com and also see a couple of television interviews.
Two of my books have been published in paperback in North America by Harlequin Books (The Boy from Berlin and The Eagle’s Covenant). In the early years I had two of my novels published in Sweden.
My writing career, always a hobby, meant fitting it all in around my work. Night shifts never helped, but were necessary to put bread on the table and feed my family. Although I never made it as a best-selling author, I can still say I am an established writer.